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Thursday, 25 March 2010

I've Been Pasting: Dick Bruna

The first book I ever loved was a Dick Bruna hardback called My Vest Is White. Not the most obvious of choices for someone who went on to become so very bookish. The plot consisted of listing various clothing items - from the eponymous vest outwards - and their respective hues. If Julie were writing this, you might be less surprised (her sartorial leanings haven't gone unnoticed, right?). But me?

The truth is, I was totally suckered by the pictures. I knew all the words by heart, but it was the bold colours and simple lines that kept me asking for the same story, night after night.

Dick Bruna’s work still has a similar effect on me. It’s pared down, retro and modestly beautiful. Even the slightly heavy-handed licensing of Miffy in recent years hasn’t dented its appeal.

In true Copy+Paste spirit, it occurred to me recently that I was more influenced by My Vest Is White and its leporine cousin than I'd previously realised. Does this little pasting look familiar?

Or this one?

Thanks to Mr Bruna, I suspect my rabbits will forever be marked with an ‘x’.

How about you - what were your favourite children's books, and how have they influenced your later years? If you could pick a modern-day favourite, who would you like to 'paste', and why? You never know, it might influence a whole new C+P challenge.

7 comments:

Lovely bunnies! I too love the simplicity of Miffy, and I also loved Jan Pienkowski (Meg and Mog) for the eye-popping colour combinations. I think I also had some mini fairy tale books darkly illustrated by him - all silhouettey and scary. Those were my favourites. Ah the beginnings of book obsession :)

Ohhhhh I love Miffy but strangely never discovered her till I was late teens. I did however love Meg and Mog. My favourite books when I was ickle were the Brothers Grimm. Shoulda told my parents something really.

My modern favourite, who I ADORE and am desperately trying to brainwash my youngest with (with a degree of success I might add) is Lauren Child. I absolutely love her work and am very slowly building up a little library of her stuff *g*

Our etsy stores

*the copy and pasters*

*ctrl+c and ctrl+v*

Being creative and original doesn't always have to begin with re-invented wheels, clean slates and blank pages.

*COPY*:There's a world of perfectly ingenious mind-stirring quotations, lyrics, conversations, designs, photographs, bits, pieces and miscellaneous bobs out there ... and we like to find them and share them with you.

*PASTE*: Sometimes we take from these 'found' gems and make something satisfyingly new from paper, paint, pixels, fineliners, fabric, fluff, glue, crayon, words ... mime ... OK, maybe not mime. And sometimes we just look at them and take in their fabulousness.

We'd love it if you picked up your creative-tool-of-choice and do some copying and pasting alongside us, and we'd be jsut as happy if you dropped by to read and look at the work of some great artists and creative people.We'd be happier still if you'd bring a friend with you... and some refreshments.